The use of wall board, which may include, for example, sheetrock or drywall, has been in use for many years. Drywall is used as a finish material for interior spaces, e.g., walls and ceilings, whether in a residential, commercial or industrial environment. Typically, the installer will affix the drywall to the interior surface of the support structure, which may include, for example, wall studs, ceiling joints, etc., which can then be finished with various wall coverings.
However, drywall is primarily provided as an interior wall finish and provides little, if any, barrier to thermal losses. To minimize thermal losses from the interior space to the outside (whether loss of cooling in the summer or loss of heat in the winter), typically an insulating product is installed in the interior of the wall space. The insulation, for example, a fiberglass product or thermal foam product, has a thermal curve so as to minimize the migration of thermal energy across the insulating material.
Typically, the thicker the insulation, the larger the thermal curve, which in turn, provides a better thermal barrier. With the rising cost of energy, the finite sources of non-renewable energy, economic downturns and a desire to minimize the carbon impact on the environment, the need to lower energy consumption has become a major consideration for consumers.
With commercial and residential construction, typically the install will position insulation so as to minimize thermal losses from the building. This would entail, for example, locating insulating material in exterior walls and ceilings. Once the insulating material is installed, the interior surface of the support structure is then covered by the drywall. While this does provide a thermal barrier between the interior of the building and the exterior, there is still thermal migration is occurring inside the wall (e.g. where the insulating material is positioned). While standard fiberglass insulation does provide a fairly good thermal curve, especially when the thickness of the insulating material is increased, thermal losses from the space do escape into the wall (e.g. past the drywall into the insulation). This thermal loss through the drywall escapes upward inside the wall (e.g., between the drywall and the insulation).
There are a number of products that have been used that can lower thermal migration inside the wall cavity (such as, foam insulation that substantially takes up all the space in the wall cavity). However, known methods require special equipment and training, are difficult to install, are expensive to install and, once installed, make it virtually impossible to use the wall cavity space as a chase for wiring installed at a later time (e.g., it is virtually impossible to run electrical/data/telephone wiring in a wall filled with foam insulation).
According, what is desired is a system and method that provides improved thermal insulating properties from an interior space to an exterior space over standard insulating materials.
It is also desired to provide a system and method that minimizes or substantially prevents thermal migration within a wall cavity.
It is further desired to provide a system and method that minimizes or substantially prevents thermal migration within a wall cavity while at the same time, does not interfere with or prevent an installer from using the wall cavity as a chase for equipment (e.g., wiring) retrofit after the installation of the insulating material.
It is still further desired to provide a system and method that provides improved thermal insulating properties that is easy to install, does not require the use of specialized equipment and does not require specialized training to install.